Combs Traditional Academy Continues to Grow and Focus on Relationships

On August 3rd, thirteen teachers welcomed almost 300 students to a new school year and additional classrooms. The highly successful school earned the J.O. Combs Unified School District’s first A rating from the Arizona Department of Education in 2013 and its students have consistently surpassed other San Tan Valley schools on state standardized testing, including AzMERIT.

Combs Traditional Academy has been committed to excellence in education as well as maintaining a small school environment. This small school environment has helped the staff, students, families, and community to develop close relationships where the focus is truly on the school’s mission to provide a rigorous academic focus for all students in a collaborative environment that emphasizes responsibility and respect.

This was recently seen when Combs Traditional Academy hosted its Curriculum Night for parents. During the hour and fifteen minute evening session, teachers shared with parents their objectives for student learning in the upcoming school year, worked with parents on home strategies to achieve those objectives, and set individual goals for students. When parents meet with teachers in September for Parent Teacher Conferences, those goals will allow parents and teachers to continue the collaborative relationship. In February, students will share with their parents their accomplishments related to those goals as well during Student Led Conferences.

In one classroom that evening, a parent shared with a teacher that her child was thrilled to receive feedback on his online Reading Response Blog and how excited he was to write about his reading! This collaborative relationship is truly what makes Combs Traditional Academy special!

Submitted by Marcus Berkshire, Principal